Governor-elect Gwendolyn Garcia plans to bring back the Suroy Suroy Sugbu project and Pasigarbo sa Sugbu program when she assumes as governor of Cebu. |Gresheen Gift Libby
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Along with her comeback at the Capitol, Governor-elect Gwendolyn Garcia said some popular projects during her previous term as governor would also be back on track.
Among these are the school supplies for public school students, midyear tourism globe-trot Suroy-suroy Sugbo and Pasigarbo sa Sugbo festival every August.
Garcia said the province-sponsored notebooks had been of help to poor students and had been surely “missed.
“[I want to] bring back the programs that benefited the people,” Garcia said in an interview shortly after she was officially proclaimed the winning governor at 11:30 p.m. Thursday, May 16.
“We will once again bring back the Suroy-suroy program which brought the benefits of tourism to the countryside, and of course what goes with it is the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo. Tubag tubag unta to: Enero, Sinulog; unya in the middle of the year, Pasigarbo sa Sugbo inig August,” Garcia added.
(That supposedly had a ripple effect. On January, we will have Sinulog and in the middle of the year or in August, we have the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo.)
Read more: Suroy Suroy guests find south Cebu ‘beautiful’
Garcia said that the programs benefited both Cebu province and the cities since the activities brought in foreign and local tourists.
“Ang ekonomiya niangat kay daghan man kaayog manganhi mopuyo sa atong mga hotels, mokaon sa atong mga restaurants. Bisan sa Freedom Park, dagko sila og halin kay kanang mga burluloy, they (tourists) look forward to that. Kaning mga programa nga nawala na, ato nang ibalik,” Garcia said.
(These programs have caused the economy to improve because many tourists come, live in our hotels and eat in our restaurants. Even in Freedom Park, they report higher earnings because the tourists avail of the native accessories that they sell.)
Garcia added that she will work closely with the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB) in order to unitedly address pressing issues on infrastructure, traffic management and garbage management with local government units.
“We will need to sit down together and arrive at a consensus on how to address this. I will need the cooperation of our local government units especially in the Metro Cebu area (Carcar City to Danao City) and expand that in the Mega Cebu area (entire province),” Garcia said.
She also encouraged mayors to “get on board” in preserving the culture and heritage of every town.
“[Show] respect for our heritage structures. I will be reminding all mayors that I have always upheld the preservation of culture and heritage,” said Garcia./dbs